The debut of AQUAWATT, the first exhibition-convention dedicated to hydropower, scheduled for October 29- 30, 2024 at Piacenza Expo will be a relevant event of great interest for operators.

An event with a European scope organized by the Piacenza Expo secretariat with the patronage of ITCOLD, ANBI, Ass. Idroelettrica Italiana, ENEA, Assoc. Acque Sotterranee, RSE and the important contribution of ETIP HYDROPOWER, the European platform of technological innovation that unites the main public and private entities related to the management of water resources for energy purposes.

Upgrading hydropower plants with digitization and new technologies for energy storage are indispensable factors for providing balancing services to the power grid and facilitating the development of renewable energy characterized by intermittent production. The major increase in the share of solar and wind will require, at the same time, a major increase in hydropower generation and storage capacity through pumped storage; in fact, according to IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), the current global hydropower fleet will have to increase by about 60 percent by 2050.

Today’s energy crises, ongoing conflicts, and climate change require clear choices to strengthen electricity market resilience and counter price volatility. The European Commission has established the Clean Energy Technologies Observatory (CETO) to help comprehensively address the energy transition to the use of advanced technologies.

Many topics are on the agenda of interest groups and institutions: from regional and cross-border collaborative projects to benefit sharing; from the role of multi-utilities to retrofitting existing civil works to technology transfer of sector innovations. Underlying then is the increasingly careful and effective risk management in the face of ongoing climate change with mitigation of extreme events.

The meeting area with companies will also allow an in-depth look at technologies and the increasingly current synergy between renewable energy systems. An appointment the exhibition one that will bring professional updating for those working in the sector: technicians, designers, plant maintainers, builders of new plants, managers of networks and infrastructures for power generation and consortium companies for water reserves for irrigation and civil purposes.

Many focuses will bring greater insight into the benefits of developing pumped storage facilities to store water resources, the latest in floating solar photovoltaics on reservoirs, and new modeling and testing programs. A system topicality that makes AQUAWATT a specialized event entirely dedicated to hydropower in the energy transition.

Finally in Italy there are the right conditions and attention for such an event where the engineering tradition can place itself in a European context united by the interests to enhance hydropower in order to generate value and offset the flows of other renewable energies with discontinuous generation.

AQUAWATT aims to address the need for supply and demand comparisons in the complex context of water management. To complete the content, GEO ACADEMY, a forum dedicated to geotechnical professions, will be held at the same time.